A L I E N Narcissus *Completed*

I've started with the removable top section of the ship.
Still a WIP, but it's starting to take shape.

The graphite powder is easy enough to work with although it is quite harsh on the brushes.
My current brush bristles are down to half its original height!

In terms of technique, I am simply going in and adding shade to the crevices and to the inside areas of the raised panels (using the reference photos as a guide of course).
I then go back and clean up the "over brushing" on the adjacent panels with an eraser and add back highlights to selected kit parts and panel areas.
You can see from the original photos that this is exactly how it was done - and I'm getting identical results.

It is time consuming (this represents two days work so far), but as I suspected, it's quite fun!

More updates soon...

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Not to be an alarmist but there are many thieves in your neighbourhood so quick, send the model to me as soon as it is finished.
I will return it to you when they have gone immediately ........ some day......... eventually............. well since they will never go away, it can always stay here. I'll promise to send you pictures regularly ......... from time to time........ some day......... eventually.
 
Thanks RKS - I'll be in touch if I need to secure the model :D

Having a little downtime at the moment and haven't had much chance to make any further progress.
Hopefully I can get back to it soon.
 
I have managed to get a bit more work done on the weathering after a small break.
I've had some questions on my technique, so I thought I'd post some pictures to illustrate.

This is the portside top of the nose prior to any wearthering:

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I'm using hardware bought (Bunnings) graphite powder. It is quite course and granaular and requires a fair amount of pressure to get the weathering dark.
This means that I don't suffer any issue with smudging or fingerprints though.
I do find that it wears the brush bristles down quite easily, but using a short bristle brush allows for more pressure and control.

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The graphite is applied to the inside edges and corners of the lower panels (and between adjacent panels):

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After the initial pass:

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I take an eraser and clean the area in the centre of the panle to bring the shading closer to the edges:

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I then go back and clean off the graphite that has spilled on to the raised sections.
I make sure to keep the eraser clean by rubbing it on paper before applying it to the ship - this prevents any smudging:

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The result after adding weathering to the raised section of the panel:

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I used the eraser to clean between the panels and to add highlights to the kit part at the top, leaving the final result:

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I like using the graphite. The effect is quite subtle and can always be redone if you don't like the result.
It is time consuming, more for the fact that I am trying to follow the reference photos to get a close match to the original. The techique itself is obviously quite basic, you can acheive some really nice results.
Now it's just a matter of rinse and repeat!...
 
Yep, that'll do just fine (and easy, when you think of it) did the same technique on my 2001 Space Station, but I used powder make-up;)
Keep up the great work!
 
The weathering for the top of the ship is done - half way there!

I have taken my time to try and get it as close to the original as I can. Unfortunately, there is very little in the way of reference for the completed top rear section of the ship (most of the photos show the rear being clean, but I believe they were taken before the weathering was completed).
Taking cues from the front half, I continued working over the back, making sure to keep it relatively subtle.
I'm pretty happy with the result so far.

There are still lots of pencil and pen marks to add as well as the decals, but they still need to be fully mapped to my 3D model first.
I will work on completing the underside weathering in the meantime...

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Excellent job - it's really looking good!

One thing though, as far as I know only the front half was weathered, the rear was left pure white.

It's difficult to tell from the photos, as you say, but that's what I was told by Martin Bower.... the premise being that the rear half was always kept sheltered in the garage away from any 'weathering' the front would receive.

Unfortunately the only photo I have that shows this was taken when the garage was still under construction, and most of the rear is obscured by the clamp, however the demarcation between the clean white area and the weathered front can clearly be seen (along with Martin's trademark crenelated line between the two areas).
Apparently he used black powder paint dusted on with a big brush, then wiped off again with a cloth and his fingers to highlight the detail. The powder was then sealed on with matt varnish (probably Letraset 'Letracote 103').

Having said all that, as a display model a pure white finish on the rear looks a bit strange, so I think the subtle effect you've got looks better!

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Thanks very much Keith - that's very kind.
Thank you also for the info you provided in the previous RPF thread a few years back.
Your part maps and info went a long way in helping me complete the ID's for the kit parts :)

Wow, what a great photo!

Now, regarding the paint! :)

I was just having this very discussion with Lee Stringer on FB!
He also pointed out that the full size set was pristine white and unweathered and although that is true, I don't believe that the weathering for the model followed suit.
Your image clearly shows no weathering on the central band, and it's hard to argue with the word of Martin Bower, but some of the other reference images appear to indicate that weathering may have been added after this image was taken. I think your image was probably taken around the same time as the one on the red tool box, which also shows no weathering to the central band or rear.

Here are a couple of examples which show the central band weathered (as well as the adjacent vertical face at the top)::

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and this shot of the underside show weathering to the rear of the ship, leaving it far from pristine,

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As far as I can tell (from the images I have access to). the front was weathered first, the holding clamp was then built/added by Martin, the "E1" markings were then applied, and lastly some further weathering was added to the rear (much more subtly than the front though).. Of course this is all just speculation on my part :)
 
Mmmm... yes, I see what you mean. I know Martin thought the pure white of the full size set looked awful, and even though he had to follow the set he was determined the front half would at least get weathered. Perhaps Ridley Scott realized it looked a bit bare too and had the subtle weathering applied to the rear, along with the extra decals on the underside.
 
Sounds plausible. By all accounts Ridley was fairly hands on in those days in the model shop at Bray (famously smashing the spires off of the refinery and switching the colour of the Nostromo after preliminary filming had begun).
I believe that the movie is slated for a 4K release this year (April?) to coincide with the 40th anniversary. I'm hoping that the additional resolution will make some of the many decals on the underside a bit more legible!
 
Oh cool - haven't heard anything like that happening here in Aus unfortunately.
Guess I'll have to wait for the Blu-ray...
 
Work continues on the weathering to the underside of the ship.
The front section is mostly done now with just the centre band and rear to finish. All the weathering has been done using graphite to this point, but I may use some black acrylic on the darkest parts for some extra contrast (particularly in the recesses in the engine bay area).
I hope to finish up the remainder of the weathering shortly but am holding off on the design work for the decals until the 4K blu-ray is released - hopefully I can get a better look at some of the underside markings....

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